A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
(1/2) Dana VP of Neuroscience & Society Khara Ramos explains why the Foundation has launched an RFP for rapid response bridge funding for scholars, practitioners, and teams doing work in neuroscience and society and impacted by recent shifts in federal funding. #neurosociety #neuroscience #neurosky
Ohio State just advised all staff and students not to attend the SACNAS (Society for the advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) annual meeting of 6000+ scientists -- which is in Columbus, OH this year! -- saying it may be exclusionary, even though it is open to all.
Free, open to the public webinar aimed at university science communicators, Sept 26:
Meeting the moment: Communicating the importance of university research during challenging times
www.nasw.org/events/sciwr...
6 STEM Scholars have been offered funding (20 hrs/wk) this summer from the ISU program.
It is unclear if they will allowed to do paid summer research now.
My latest little news summary of cool research from UC Berkeley 👁️---🧠
My PhD student's NSF grant was terminated today. Her dissertation investigates why air pollution monitoring, metrics, and regulations don't properly capture the harms experienced by marginalized communities--esp in the most polluted Detroit neighborhoods. She and I are happy to talk with press etc.
A banner showcasing the Berkeley Science Review logo surrounded by previous issues of the magazine is draped over a white folding table. Above the banner are black and white coloring pages of magazine front covers, one featuring peregrine falcons, another chromatin and DNA, and a third a winged insect. Colored pencils and markers placed neatly next to the pages.
Yapping today about two decades of @berkeleyscirev.bsky.social science journalism excellence.
Consider donating! The BSR is written, edited, designed, and led by graduate student volunteers. We want to keep making Berkeley research accessible 4ever!
berkeleysciencereview.com/donate-and-s...
I was asked what accomplishment I was most proud of recently 🥹 this. Learn more about the lived experience of #TGCT - from symptom onset, diagnosis, treatment, & thereafter. TGCT is a debilitating and impactful disease from the voice of patients. Read:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
If you had a U-RISE or MARC grant cancelled this week (I'm hearing the MARC programs, which are similar but at research intensive unis, were also cancelled), please be sure to update the information here: forms.gle/81iLikdBtmCP... 🧪 #AcademicSky
PLEASE SHARE: We're excited to be offering the NASW Summer Diversity Fellowship for the ninth year in a row. $3,000 in funding to supplement summer internship pay. Applications due Tuesday April 1: www.nasw.org/2025Div... 🧪📰
CALLS ARE WORKING - it has bought us precious time, but we NEED to keep the pressure up.
Tomorrow is the cloture vote.
KEEP CALLING: (202) 224-3121 ☎️☎️☎️
Tell your Dem Senator to vote NO on Cloture and NO on the Republican spending bill.
Do NOT assume your Senator will be good on this. Trust me.
One of my favorite speeches from today. Thank you fdoperez.bsky.social
Large crowd holding signs on the UC Berkeley campus with open space in the middle.
Speaker with a megaphone in the middle of a crowd with signs, with another speaker standing by. Some readable signs say STEM > MAGA, SAVE SCIENCE SAVE LIVES, Superstition Ain't the Way, and Stand up for Science Berkeley.
#standupforscience at UC Berkeley! Speakers pictured are Vincent Medina & Louis Trevino, leaders of the 'ottoy Initative.
How weakly tumor cells adhere to their environment may be a way to predict which #breastcancer patients are at higher risk of metastasis. A powerful example of impactful, interdisciplinary research at @ucsandiego.bsky.social, made possible by NIH funding. today.ucsd.edu/story/a-new-...
Illustration of Statue of Liberty with text that says: Stand Up for Science 2025. March 7th 12-1pm UC Berkeley. Science is for everyone. Gather at Upper Sproul to defend science!
Stand Up for Science at UC Berkeley on Friday at 12!
Speakers include Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna,
Albany Mayor Robin Lopez, Professor of Economics Edward Miguel, Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science Rena Dorph, and UCB Planetarium Director Bryan Méndez.
www.standup4scienceberkeley.com
This #RareDiseaseDay, I'm grateful to the scientists who discovered a treatment for my rare disease. Just 12 years ago there was no FDA-approved treatment, and it would've been life-threatening for me. Federal funding is CRITICAL for science in the US, and it benefits us all. Please fight for it.
As a rare disease patient, I made great friends through patient support groups. We were so excited to meet at the annual FDA-NIH Rare Disease Day tomorrow. But it’s cancelled.
udnf.org/udnf-stateme...
Once again, these include a host of individual and institutional training grants that broaden participation in biomedical research: IMSD, MARC, U-RISE, G-RISE, Bridges to Doctorates, MOSAIC, etc.
This strategy is nefarious and in direct conflict with the recent injunction against Trump anti-DEI EOs
NEW: Trump actions on science may affect a generation as pauses + cuts in graduate admissions begin. “We had just flown them out, we told them we love you, we want to admit you, and then everything just stopped." "It's freezing everybody into inaction."
www.statnews.com/2025/02/19/t...
Just saw an email sent to a student of mine from a REU canceling their program due to staffing & federal research funding uncertainties.
A REU was when I internalized my science ID & applying to grad school.
If this continues, it will devastate my students #1 pathway to STEM careers.
Yes. “People are doing things. You will meet them when YOU start doing things.”
Lots of information and resources in this one.
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
My calls of the day, but 5 Calls has so many other important topics you can call your reps about as well. Love their concise scripts, background info, and lists of phone numbers all in one place.
5calls.org/issue/nih-ns...
This thread is exactly the point - applies to NIH fellowships too. Talented trainees made career-altering decisions based on these mechanisms existing. They could have applied to something else. Canceling submitted or awarded applications is selectively punishing them
Indeed, if you make a new program aimed at minorities, incentivize them to apply with better pay and less teaching, and then discourage them from applying to other NSF fellowships, then cutting that program will absolutely take a bunch of minorities right out of academia 13/n
NEW: NIH telling scientists not to review diversity supplements that support students from marginalized backgrounds pursue Ph.Ds; unclear if/how they can reapply. "It is an ugly moment," Donna Ginther told me. New story with @aniloza.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/02/07/t...
When Scientific American endorsed Harris, many scientists and science-friendly people were supportive and grateful, but some said: stick to science, science isn’t political, etc. But reality-denying right-wing fanatics will absolutely come for the scientists www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
